I'm fishing for some opinions on your preferred powder in .357 and 38 special (same powder if possible).

I'm looking for something that can accept standard CCI 500 primers, and burns clean with 158gn LSWC. The powder I'm using now is dirty dirty dirty, and I don't have a ton of money to throw around on powders to test.

The gun used is a GP100 with a 6" barrel.

Much appreciated!

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”An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.”
~Col. Jeff Cooper

For the cleanest powder I would say Trail Boss. You are not going to get super kaboom speeds, you will get a very clean burning powder. The only thing I have to clean off of my gun after shooting is the carbon from bullet lube. Other than that clean as whistle.

For .357 Mag AA#9 will give great velocity with cast or jacketed bullets and is very clean in my .41 mag with cast bullets. Though I would advise heavily against using it for .38 spcl cases. If one were somehow loaded into a weaker gun the results would more than likely be catastrophic.

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No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

Also like the bulkiness that makes a double charge more obvious. Some other powders I have tried (W231) require such a small charge that a TRIPLE charge would probably fit if you are loading mild lead loads.

Hi Ya,
Looks like some learned bros. have commented on their powder choice. and i respect their op. I dont know anything.
I use Red Dot, dont know why except that I have a lot of it.
My point tho' is have some new load books nothing like it. Power seems to change I am told. And so are loads.

I was crunching some numbers on trail boss, and found it to be extremely cost effective. I think that will be my next powder (I have many manuals to reference, BTW, but a little less money to buy the damned components). I also found this pretty interesting view on the youtube about TB. Who knew the old timer black powder methods could be adapted to modern powder???

The powder I'm using now is dirty dirty dirty, and I don't have a ton of money to throw around on powders to test.

Bullseye, by any chance?

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"As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. "

GP100man, even though it is only 9 ounces of powder, I can find this stuff for 11 bucks at powder valley. And yes, even though it is 9 ounces, it still has about 3900 grains in a bottle. Take and average 4 grain load per shell, and that gives you enough powder to load about 980 shells. For an 11 buck powder, it's pretty convincing to me.

I got into IDPA and bought a large quantity of power pistol for my 40SW. I'm also making use of it in 357 and 38, well, because it's there. It's just way too dirty for revolver cartridges.

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”An unarmed man can only flee from evil, and evil is not overcome by fleeing from it.”
~Col. Jeff Cooper

If you limit yourself to just one powder, then you'll have to compromise on your loads. You'll either have standard .38 loads and light .357 loads, or you'll have hot .38 loads (or, more likely, lots of unburned powder), and standard .357 loads.

Hodgdon Universal - works well for me on both .357 mag and .38 spl ...and I use the same bullet for both ....either a Berry's 158gr RN or a Montana Gold 158 gr FMJ ...and CCI small pistol primers in both ...

powder drops on Universal for .38 spl at 4.3 gr
powder drops on Universal for .357 mag at 6.1gr

The 9oz can will do everything a pound of most powders will. I get a little over 1k charges for .38 spcl out of a can. A 3.8 grain charge gives me great case fill. In fact a double charge would way over flow a case. Starting loads fill 70% of the case. Max loads are 100% case fill. Oh and a 9oz can here at the LGS that is not known for cheap prices a can runs $17.99. So cost per charge is still under 2 cents each.

I will continue to use it. It works well, and super clean burning. I do not care that it does not give a super loud blammo, kabeeewwwm report, and high velocity. It gives me loads that are close to what I would have with Bull's Eye for velocity with a target load. Without all of the dirty soot.

Most bangs from a buck. TiteGroup, or Bull's Eye will do it. As well as Win 231 Though they run on the dirty side.

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No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

I agree with AlaskaMike.
There is not one powder that will do good work in both standard .38 Special and full house .357 Magnum.
You can optimize for .38s and get low end .357s or you can load real magnums and replicate .38-44 High Velocity. But I don't think you can cover the entire spectrum with one powder, it is false economy.
For clean burn, Vihtavuouri powders do well; N310 for wadcutters, N110 for bear bumpers.

On the other hand, you don't need to end up with a dozen different partial cans of Not Quite Right Powder on the shelf, either. Work out what you really want to do, and buy something suitable. A clean burn is mostly from operating at the pressure range the powder was made for. I know two people who tried downloading 2400 and 4227 and just made a mess.

For what it's worth a max load of TB is not a case full, manufacturer states fill to base of bullet at seating depth is a max load, and to never compress the load or strange things will happen. You weigh that charge and then play with 70%, 80%, etc. Good luck. Goat

I have 5 different pistol powders, I use for my shooting needs AA#2,5,7,9 and tight group. with Tighgroup being the dirtiest. I use 5 and 7 for my 357. I took me a while to get a stock of powder, I often tell my wife and kids I would like a certain powder for a birthday present or Christmas, powder and component are great gifts for a reloader. Where I live there are not a lot of local gun shops, So I save my money and buy in bulk when( 5 or 8 lbs powder) when I know I Will be going somewhere I can buy. I hate paying the $ 27.50 Hazmat shipping fee.

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Finch, I don't like guns. Reese, Me either but if someone has to have guns I'd rather it be me. (Person of Interest).
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My go-to for those cartridges with 158 gr. lead bullets is Unique. Won't quote any loads here but your manual has several. I kinda think "clean burning" is the new buzz word. I have shot a lot of Unique in .38/.357, .44 Spec./Magnum, and 45 ACP. and never has the "dirty" powders interferred with gun's function. Occationally I'll shoot up to 250 rounds per gun per session (most time it'll be a .38 Spec or 45 ACP) but, I take 2 or 3 guns with me. I usually have a hand towel handy when I shoot, and occasionally wipe my stainless guns (between strings/when reloading). I clean all my guns everytime I get home from the range so "clean burning" don't mean much to me...

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